House prices down says Hometrack

House prices fell by 0.1% in October, the first price fall for two years, according to the latest national housing market survey from Hometrack.

The decline in October follows two months of zero growth with the annual rate of growth falling back to 4.4%. Average prices were down by between 0.1% and 0.2% across all regions except for the West Midlands where values remained unchanged.The survey found weakness in demand and market activity has led to a rise in the average length of time a property is on the market from a recent low of 5.8 weeks in May to the current 7.4 weeks. In addition, estate agents nationally have reported buyers are achieving 94.3% of the asking price, down from 94.8% last month.

Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said: “The last time we saw a similar fall in demand was back in 2005 but this was accompanied by a sizable increase in the supply of homes for sale. This is currently not the case and as a result we expect headline price falls to be relatively limited in the run up to Christmas and the New Year.”